Texas Football: Impact landing 4-Star ATH Kitan Crawford brings

Almost moving back among the top 30 2020 recruiting classes in the nation, Texas football nabbed a big get with 4-Star ATH Kitan Crawford.

Although a lapse looked like it could be looming for the 2020 Texas football recruiting class, head coach Tom Herman let no such thing happen. On June 21, the 2020 Texas football recruiting class landed a big name that was on the program’s radar for a while now with four-star John Tyler High School rising senior athlete and Tyler, TX, native Kitan Crawford.

As potentially the first get for Texas football to add to this 2020 recruiting class on the defensive side of the ball, Crawford does fit the profile of a cornerback. Defensive coordinator Todd Orlando would be getting one of the most agile athletes for this entire recruiting cycle to play at cornerback if that is the case.

However, the size would definitely be a hurdle for Crawford if he were to play at cornerback for the Texas Longhorns football program. But that shouldn’t be too much for Crawford to overcome since he brings to high octane level of speed, agility, and strength to the table.

https://twitter.com/KitanCrawford/status/1142261968092499968

Even the former Texas Tech Red Raiders standout first round NFL Draft pick at quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, gave his congrats to Crawford on Twitter on June 21. That is a big deal for Crawford and the Longhorns.

What the Longhorns are getting in Crawford is a fast rising and extremely fast athlete that could make an impact on multiple sides of the ball. If Herman wants Crawford to start out on special teams and at a skill position on offense, he could surely make a ton of defenders miss next year.

However, the more likely scenario is that Crawford would get rare touches on the offensive side of the ball while getting more looks at cornerback in specific situations and on special teams in the punt return game. That fits more of the role that he occupies at John Tyler entering his senior campaign.

Crawford did see a massive rise for himself up the national recruiting rankings of late. He now ranks as a top 200 2020 high school prospect in the nation and a top 10 athlete. He’s also almost squeezed into one of the top 30 prospects coming out of the state of Texas.

It wasn’t too long ago that Crawford ranked outside of the top 700 high school prospects in the nation. This is a testament to how underrated he was previously and how good of a find this was for the Texas coaching staff when they did.

This choice for Crawford to go to the Longhorns was the expense of his other two finalist schools, the Oklahoma Sooners and Tennessee Volunteers. Crawford recently announced his three finalist schools on his Twitter timeline, but the indications were there that he was leaning toward Texas.

In the end, the Longhorns got a massive upgrade to the secondary with a prospect that likely will keep up with any receiver in the nation speed-wise. The size factor shouldn’t matter too much either since Crawford does stand at 5-foot-11 and 200 pounds. He clearly has the weight to throw around in the secondary in the Big 12 now.

Adding speed int he secondary is vital in the Big 12. Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, West Virginia, etc. seem to always boost speedy receiving corps and next season should be no exception. Crawford might not make an immediate difference, but this is a big long-term get for Herman and Orlando.